Insight

Board disclosure of race and ethnicity gains traction

KPMG BLC Senior Advisors Annalisa Barrett and Susan Angele examine trends in board racial and ethnic diversity disclosure.

Diverse boards are more effective, and disclosure drives action.
Susan Angele, Senior Advisor, KPMG Board Leadership Center

Pressure on corporations to increase and disclose their board’s diversity continues to intensify. The murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans in the spring of 2020 and the subsequent social unrest accelerated corporate efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as stakeholder and regulator demands for faster progress and greater transparency.

Stakeholders have been especially focused on board racial and ethnic diversity and disclosure over the past year, recognizing that without such disclosure, progress cannot be measured. “Diverse boards are more effective, and disclosure drives action,” said KPMG Board Leadership Center (BLC) Senior Advisor Susan Angele. 

Annalisa Barrett

Annalisa Barrett

Senior Advisor, KPMG Board Leadership Center, KPMG US

Susan M. Angele

Susan M. Angele

Senior Advisor, KPMG Board Leadership Center, KPMG US

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Board disclosure of race and ethnicity gains traction

 

To get a sense of the current disclosure landscape, the KPMG BLC analyzed board racial and ethnic diversity disclosure by Russell 3000 and S&P 500 companies from January to September 2021, reflecting changes made during the 2021 proxy season. The data shows a large increase in the disclosure of board racial and ethnic data at U.S. public companies during this period. The analysis was based on the KPMG Board Diversity Disclosure Benchmarking Tool, powered by ESGAUGE, which compares board diversity disclosure practices by index, sector, and company size.

S&P 500 companies disclosing the board’s aggregate racial and ethnic diversity

S&P 500 companies disclosing individual director race and ethnicity
 

 Russell 3000 companies disclosing the board’s aggregate racial and ethnic diversity

Russell 3000 companies disclosing individual director race and ethnicity
 

A version of this article originally appeared in The Power of Difference by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

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